Pale
by The Adversary
Summary: Noah finds out about Duncan and Courtney. Implied NxD, DxC. Slash warning.


A/N: Maybe this is kind of might turn will be into drabblish fic series? (Fear my mighty zingrish!)

I kind of changed the timeline just a little so that Noah would have stayed longer on the show; to make his…er…'partnership' with Duncan seem a little more believable. PS: My grammar sucks. ;_; I know I messed up tenses, and…is it Courtney's or Courtneys'…or just plain Courtneys? I haven't had English class in three years!

…I need a beta.

-

Noah woke to the sound of annoying chatter. He groaned, running a hand through mousy brown locks as he peeled the drool-stuck pages of his book from his cheek. He stretched lazily, popping his back as he straightened in the large, over-stuffed arm chair he had curled up in earlier.

Katie and Sadie, dressed in their identical pink shorts and black-and-white striped off shoulder shirts were giggling and talking (yelling) animatedly at one another as they lay on plush, thick cushions nestled into fluffy white carpet, sprawled out before the big-screen plasma TV in the Playa De Losers.

"Like oh my gosh!" Katie (or was it Sadie?) squealed. "They're like, so cute together!" Intrigued, Noah shifted to peer around the side of his chair -turned to face the ocean as it was easier to get in to the book and concentrate more easily without the distraction of watching his _former_ campmates suffering-

"I know, right?" Sadie (or was it Katie?) replied with another, identical squeal as she clutched at the other's hands. "I mean, the way he hugged Courtney after he conquered his fear of Celine Dion cardboard cutouts--"

His eyes widened. There was only one person who he know feared them. They had shared it abed one night before he had been kicked off, right after the cooking challenge (as much as he loved books, Noah had yet to pick up a cook book and had ended up burning almost all of the food his team had made, haughtily ignoring all of Heather's screaming instructions and tripping her up as she rushed after her make up bag so that she slid into the walk-in freezer when LeShawna and the others tired of her bossiness).

Duncan.

Widened eyes immediately flew to the high definition television, where Duncan was cozying up to Courtney, enticing her to break a rule with him. His fingers dug into the plush, leather of the chair. He could practically feel the blood drain from his face, leaving his dark skin pale with an almost deathly pallor.

He watched as Duncan laughed with the C.I.T - _with that husky timber that he had reserved only for Noah before, tangled between thin cotton in the hot summer air_ - .

His hands shook as Duncan's took Courtneys, dragging her off to steal Chef's desserts - _those rough, calloused hands that had spent many nights tracing patterns over Noah's hip, his chest _- .

He felt tears well in his eyes as they drew close together, Courtney kissing Duncan in that dark shack - _for he couldn't believe Duncan would kiss her, not ever, not in a million years even though his heart felt at that moment like it was breaking and the memory of rough lips pressed against his own as they came together flooded into his mind_ - .

Without staying to watch another second, Noah fled from the common room to his own, closing (though it was much closer to a slam) his door and locking it with trembling fingers and throwing himself onto bed, wrapping his arms around a feathery soft pillow, crying hot tears.

He clenched his jaw tight, stifling any whimpers that worked their way up his throat, ignoring the fact that he had bit down on his lip, the salty tang of blood on his tongue, ignoring the fact that his jaw was beginning to ache.

He had never hated Duncan more than in that moment. Hated him for perusing someone so quickly after he had left. Hated him for kissing Courtney - _he had to admit it to himself, he really couldn't blame her for liking him, he was handsome, dark, forbidden_ - .

Hated the fact that even now he was desperately in love with him.

Noah's hand fisted in the fabric of his shirt just above his heart, feeling to its wild, frantic pace. He thought it would burst.

Sniffing, Noah curled up in bed, as tight a ball as he could make himself. For the first time in years, Noah did something he hadn't even done when his parents had divorced, when he was forced to switch schools, when he was bullied and picked on and forced into the cynical, sarcastic person he was today.

He let a sob escape his lips.

_Let us go then, you and I,_

_When the evening is spread out against the sky_

…

_Let us go, through certain half-dressed streets,_

_The muttering retreats_

_Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels_

(Excerpts from TS Eliots 'The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock')


End file.
